The Well-Being of Nations: Estimating Welfare from International Migration

39 Pages Posted: 23 Oct 2019 Last revised: 24 Oct 2019

See all articles by Sanghoon Lee

Sanghoon Lee

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business

Seung Hoon Lee

Yonsei University

Jeffrey Lin

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Date Written: January, 2020

Abstract

The limitations of GDP as a measure of welfare are well known. We propose a new method of estimating the well-being of nations. Using gross bilateral international migration flows and a discrete choice model in which everyone in the world chooses a country in which to live, we estimate each country?s overall quality of life. Our estimates, by relying on revealed preference, complement previous estimates of economic well-being that consider only income or a small number of factors, or rely on structural assumptions about how these factors contribute to wellbeing.

JEL Classification: D63, F22, I31, J61

Suggested Citation

Lee, Sanghoon and Lee, Seung Hoon and Lin, Jeffrey, The Well-Being of Nations: Estimating Welfare from International Migration (January, 2020). FRB of Philadelphia Working Paper No. 19-33, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3474357 or http://dx.doi.org/10.21799/frbp.wp.2019.33

Sanghoon Lee (Contact Author)

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business ( email )

2053 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Canada

Seung Hoon Lee

Yonsei University ( email )

Seoul
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

Jeffrey Lin

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia ( email )

Ten Independence Mall
Philadelphia, PA 19106-1574
United States

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